Exchangeable shoe ornament



. June 2, 1959 L; PINKUS 2,888,767

EXCHANGEABLE SHOE ORNAMENT Filed March 26, 1958 I A IE- EBA-'5 T I H.INVENTOR:

United States Patent EXCHANGEABLE SHOE ORNAMENT Lotte Pinkus, New York,N.Y.

Application March 26, 1958, Serial No. 724,059

1 Claim. (Cl. 41-34) My invention relates to shoe ornaments and some ofits objects are to aifix an ornament firmly, but removably and, hence,exchangeably to a shoe, to provide the ornament for this purpose with apliable metal clip and to protect the base of the shoe wearer fromdamaging contact with this clip.

Other objects are to make possible to adorn a shoe with any one of avariety of ornaments, to increase the variability by including aplurality of exchangeably connected ornamental pieces in the ornament,one of these pieces forming a base alfixed to the clip, another pieceforming a top removably connected with this base.

Further objects are to hold the ornament on the shoe by other means inaddition to the clip, thereby to pro vide additional protection againstloss or dislocation of the ornament, and to use the means protecting thehose for this additional purpose.

Still other objects are to attain these results with simple andinexpensive means, and to provide an exchangeable shoe ornament that canbe easily made and can be conveniently aflixed to and removed from ashoe.

Still other objects and advantages will appear from the followingdescription of an exemplifying embodiment of my invention, from theappended claim and from the accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 shows a top view of a partially represented shoe with an ornamentaccording to my invention atfixed to the shoe.

Fig. 2 shows a partially sectional side view of the parts shown in Fig.l, the sectionally represented parts being out along the line 22 in Fig.1.

Figs. 3 to show the ornament in detached condition.

Fig. 3 shows a cross-section taken along the line 3-3 in Fig. 5.

Fig. 4 shows a cross-section taken along the line 4-4 in Fig. 5 whichline coincides with line 3-3.

Fig. 5 shows a bottom view seen from the lower side in Figs. 3 and 4.

Figs. 2 to 5 are represented on a larger scale than Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, numeral 5 indicates a shoe which has an upper6 with a free edge 7.

An illustrative embodiment of my invention comprises a clip 8 made ofpliable metal and shaped like a U when seen from the side as in Fig. 2.The head 9 of this U connects its two legs 11 and 12 which are formed byplates that may be broader than the head 9. The leg or plate 11 is inafi'ixed condition adjacent to the outside of the upper 6 while the leg12 is adjacent to the inside.

The outside leg 11 may have a window-like cut-out. The inside leg 12 hasprongs or sharp projections 13 which may be stamped out of its area andpoint toward the leg 11.

An ornamental piece 14 is permanently aflixed to the leg 11, forexample, by staples 15. The piece 14 is represented as a simple flatrectangle, but may have any desired shape, circumference, curvature anddesign. Another ornamental piece 16 may be detachably affixed on ice topof the piece 14, for example, by means of a snap button 17 afiixed tothe piece 14 and snapping into a hole of the piece 16.

A tape 18 is aflixed to the clip in any suitable manner. For example,one end of this tape is clamped between the leg plate 11 and theornamental piece 14. From the clamped end, the tape extends about theclip head 9, along the leg 12 and considerably farther into the shoealong the upper 6.

The tape 18 may be made of'fabric, thin leather, soft flexible plasticor any other suitable flexible non-metallic material, and is broader andlonger than the clip 8. The side of the tape which is adjacent to theupper 6 may be adhesive like a scotch tape which can be afiixed anddisengaged repeatedly.

The described ornament is affixed to the shoe 5 in the following manner:

In the original condition shown in Figs. 3 to 5, the clip 8 issufiiciently spread to allow insertion of the upper 6 between the leg 11and the prongs 13 of the leg 12. After the clip has been placed aboutthe central portion of the upper edge 7 and has been moved toward theshoe front as far as possible, the legs are compressed whereby they gripthe upper firmly and the prongs 13 bite into the same. If the tape 18 isof the adhesive type described, it is stretched into the shoe toward thefront and pressed against the upper to which the tape will then cling.If the tape is not adhesive, it may dangle down from the clip until afoot is inserted in the shoe. The entering foot will stretch the tapeinto the position along and adjacent to the upper.

In thus aflixed condition, the ornament is secured against dislocationor loss in several ways which comprise the strong clamping action of themetal clip legs, the biting engagement of the sharp prongs and the holdof the tape on the upper due to its adhesion or to frictional engagementunder the pressure of the inserted foot.

In order to separate the ornament from the shoe, the tape is disengagedfrom the upper, and the clip is unbent to spread its legs until the clipand the entire ornament can be withdrawn from the upper. The ornamentcan then be replaced by another ornament having a similar clip and tape,but having a difierent ornamental piece. In addition, the ornament canbe varied without removing the clip from the shoe by exchanging theornamental top piece 16.

I desire it understood that my invention is not confined to theparticular embodiment shown and described, the same being merelyillustrative, and that my invention may be carried out in other wayswithin the scope of the appended claim without departing from the spiritof my invention as it is obvious that the particular embodiment shownand described is only one of the many that may be employed to attain theobjects of my invention.

Having described the nature of my invention, what I claim and desire toprotect by Letters Patent is:

A removable ornament affixing system for womens and girls shoes toprevent running and tearing of silk and nylon hosiery, said shoes havingan upper with an instep vamp element at the forward portion of the shoe,said system providing a firm attachment permitting ready replacement andsubstitution whilst providing a firm stable attachment when mounted onthe vamp, said system having a top decorative element positioned on thetop of the vamp, a U-cross section metallic engaging element having anupper leg and a lower leg and connecting bend integrally connecting theadjacent ends of the upper and lower legs, said upper leg carrying thedecorative element and being covered thereby and engaging the top faceof edge of the vamp and the lower leg engaging the inside face of thetop edge of the vamp directly inside of and under the top face of thevamp and said bend on its interior face contacting the edge of vamp atfront instep of the shoe, said legs having offset interengagingprojection elements firmly to engage the top and inside faces of theedge, and a protective adhesive cover strip serving both to protect thehosiery and enforce the attachment, said adhesive cover strip beingpermanently attached at one end between the upper leg and the ornamentand being connected at one end between the upper leg and the decorativeelement and extending away therefrom so as to cover the bend and thelower leg, said adhesive cover strip having a smooth outer face and anadhesive inside face to cling to and attach itself to the lower face ofthe lower leg and extending beyond the lower leg to engage and attachitself securely to the inside face of the top edge of the vamp beyondthe lower leg.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,640,898 Konicke Aug. 30, 1927 10 2,396,080 Bruegger Mar. 5, 1946FOREIGN PATENTS 679,190 France July 23, 1929

